Letters to His Son, 1756 to 1758

T >> The Earl of Chesterfield >> Letters to His Son, 1756 to 1758

LETTERS TO HIS SON
1756-58

By the EARL OF CHESTERFIELD

on the Fine Art of becoming a

MAN OF THE WORLD

and a

GENTLEMAN



LETTER CCIII

BATH, November 15, 1756

MY DEAR FRIEND: I received yours yesterday morning together with the
Prussian, papers, which I have read with great attention. If courts could
blush, those of Vienna and Dresden ought, to have their falsehoods so
publicly, and so undeniably exposed. The former will, I presume, next
year, employ an hundred thousand men, to answer the accusation; and if
the Empress of the two Russias is pleased to argue in the same cogent
manner, their logic will be too strong for all the King of Prussia's
rhetoric. I well remember the treaty so often referred to in those
pieces, between the two Empresses, in 1746. The King was strongly pressed
by the Empress Queen to accede to it. Wassenaer communicated it to me for
that purpose. I asked him if there were no secret articles; suspecting
that there were some, because the ostensible treaty was a mere harmless,
defensive one. He assured me that there were none. Upon which I told him,
that as the King had already defensive alliances with those two
Empresses, I did not see of what use his accession to this treaty, if
merely a defensive one, could be, either to himself or the other
contracting parties; but that, however, if it was only desired as an
indication of the King's good will, I would give him an act by which his
Majesty should accede to that treaty, as far, but no further, as at
present he stood engaged to the respective Empresses by the defensive
alliances subsisting with each. This offer by no means satisfied him;
which was a plain proof of the secret articles now brought to light, and
into which the court of Vienna hoped to draw us. I told Wassenaer so, and
after that I heard no more of his invitation.

I am still bewildered in the changes at Court, of which I find that all
the particulars are not yet fixed. Who would have thought, a year ago,
that Mr. Fox, the Chancellor, and the Duke of Newcastle, should all three
have quitted together? Nor can I yet account for it; explain it to me if
you can. I cannot see, neither, what the Duke of Devonshire and Fox, whom
I looked upon as intimately united, can have quarreled about, with
relation to the Treasury; inform me, if you know. I never doubted of the
prudent versatility of your Vicar of Bray: But I am surprised at O'Brien
Windham's going out of the Treasury, where I should have thought that the
interest of his brother-in-law, George Grenville, would have kept him.

Having found myself rather worse, these two or three last days, I was
obliged to take some ipecacuanha last night; and, what you will think
odd, for a vomit, I brought it all up again in about an hour, to my great
satisfaction and emolument, which is seldom the case in restitutions.

You did well to go to the Duke of Newcastle, who, I suppose, will have no
more levees; however, go from time to time, and leave your name at his
door, for you have obligations to him. Adieu.




LETTER CCIV

BATH, December 14, 1756.

MY DEAR FRIEND: What can I say to you from this place, where EVERY DAY IS
STILL BUT AS THE FIRST, though by no means so agreeably passed, as
Anthony describes his to have been? The same nothings succeed one another
every day with me, as, regularly and uniformly as the hours of the day.
You will think this tiresome, and so it is; but how can I help it? Cut
off from society by my deafness, and dispirited by my ill health, where
could I be better? You will say, perhaps, where could you be worse? Only
in prison, or the galleys, I confess. However, I see a period to my stay
here; and I have fixed, in my own mind, a time for my return to London;
not invited there by either politics or pleasures, to both which I am
equally a stranger, but merely to be at home; which, after all, according
to the vulgar saying, is home, be it ever so homely.

The political settlement, as it is called, is, I find, by no means
settled; Mr. Fox, who took this place in his way to his brother's, where
he intended to pass a month, was stopped short by an express, which he
received from his connection, to come to town immediately; and
accordingly he set out from hence very early, two days ago. I had a very
long conversation with him, in which he was, seemingly at least, very
frank and communicative; but still I own myself in the dark. In those
matters, as in most others, half knowledge (and mine is at most that) is
more apt to lead one into error, than to carry one to truth; and our own
vanity contributes to the seduction. Our conjectures pass upon us for
truths; we will know what we do not know, and often, what we cannot know:
so mortifying to our pride is the bare suspicion of ignorance!

It has been reported here that the Empress of Russia is dying; this would
be a fortunate event indeed for the King of Prussia, and necessarily
produce the neutrality and inaction, at least, of that great power; which
would be a heavy weight taken out of the opposite scale to the King of
Prussia. The 'Augustissima' must, in that case, do all herself; for
though France will, no doubt, promise largely, it will, I believe,
perform but scantily; as it desires no better than that the different
powers of Germany should tear one another to pieces.

I hope you frequent all the courts: a man should make his face familiar
there. Long habit produces favor insensibly; and acquaintance often does
more than friendship, in that climate where 'les beaux sentimens' are not
the natural growth.

Adieu! I am going to the ball, to save my eyes from reading, and my mind
from thinking.




LETTERS TO HIS SON

LETTER CCV

BATH, January 12, 1757

MY DEAR FRIEND: I waited quietly, to see when either your leisure, or
your inclinations, would al low you to honor me with a letter; and at
last I received one this morning, very near a fortnight after you went
from hence. You will say, that you had no news to write me; and that
probably may be true; but, without news, one has always something to say
to those with whom one desires to have anything to do.

Your observation is very just with regard to the King of Prussia, whom
the most august House of Austria would most unquestionably have poisoned
a century or two ago. But now that 'terras Astraea reliquit', kings and
princes die of natural deaths; even war is pusillanimously carried on in
this degenerate age; quarter is given; towns are taken, and the people
spared: even in a storm, a woman can hardly hope for the benefit of a
rape. Whereas (such was the humanity of former days) prisoners were
killed by thousands in cold blood, and the generous victors spared
neither man, woman, nor child. Heroic actions of this kind were performed
at the taking of Magdebourg. The King of Prussia is certainly now in a
situation that must soon decide his fate, and make him Caesar or nothing.
Notwithstanding the march of the Russians, his great danger, in my mind,
lies westward. I have no great notions of Apraxin's abilities, and I
believe many a Prussian colonel would out-general him. But Brown,
Piccolomini, Lucchese, and many other veteran officers in the Austrian
troops, are respectable enemies.

Mr. Pitt seems to me to have almost as many enemies to encounter as his
Prussian Majesty. The late Ministry, and the Duke's party, will, I
presume, unite against him and his Tory friends; and then quarrel among
themselves again. His best, if not his only chance of supporting himself
would be, if he had credit enough in the city, to hinder the advancing of
the money to any administration but his own; and I have met with some
people here who think that he has.

I have put off my journey from hence for a week, but no longer. I find I
still gain some strength and some flesh here, and therefore I will not
cut while the run is for me.

By a letter which I received this morning from Lady Allen, I observe that
you are extremely well with her; and it is well for you to be so, for she
is an excellent and warm puff.

'A propos' (an expression which is commonly used to introduce whatever is
unrelative to it) you should apply to some of Lord Holderness's people,
for the perusal of Mr. Cope's letters. It would not be refused you; and
the sooner you have them the better. I do not mean them as models for
your manner of writing, but as outlines of the matter you are to write
upon.

If you have not read Hume's "Essays" read them; they are four very small
volumes; I have just finished, and am extremely pleased with them. He
thinks impartially, deep, often new; and, in my mind, commonly just.
Adieu.




LETTER CCVI

BLACKHEATH, September 17, 1757

MY DEAR FRIEND: Lord Holderness has been so kind as to communicate to me
all the letters which he has received from you hitherto, dated the 15th,
19th, 23d, and 26th August; and also a draught of that which he wrote to
you the 9th instant. I am very well pleased with all your letters; and,
what is better, I can tell you that the King is so too; and he said, but
three days ago, to Monsieur Munchausen, HE (meaning you) SETS OUT VERY
WELL, AND I LIKE HIS LETTERS; PROVIDED THAT, LIKE MOST OF MY ENGLISH
MINISTERS ABROAD, HE DOES NOT GROW IDLE HEREAFTER. So that here is both
praise to flatter, and a hint to warn you. What Lord Holderness
recommends to you, being by the King's order, intimates also a degree of
approbation; for the BLACKER INK, AND THE LARGER CHARACTER, show, that
his Majesty, whose eyes are grown weaker, intends to read all your
letters himself. Therefore, pray do not neglect to get the blackest ink
you can; and to make your secretary enlarge his hand, though 'd'ailleurs'
it is a very good one.

Had I been to wish an advantageous situation for you, and a good debut in
it, I could not have wished you either better than both have hitherto
proved. The rest will depend entirely upon yourself; and I own I begin to
have much better hopes than I had; for I know, by my own experience, that
the more one works, the more willing one is to work. We are all, more or
less, 'des animaux d'habitude'. I remember very well, that when I was in
business, I wrote four or five hours together every day, more willingly
than I should now half an hour; and this is most certain, that when a man
has applied himself to business half the day, the other half, goes off
the more cheerfully and agreeably. This I found so sensibly, when I was
at The Hague, that I never tasted company so well nor was so good company
myself, as at the suppers of my post days. I take Hamburg now to be 'le
centre du refuge Allemand'. If you have any Hanover 'refugies' among
them, pray take care to be particularly attentive to them. How do you
like your house? Is it a convenient one? Have the 'Casserolles' been
employed in it yet? You will find 'les petits soupers fins' less
expensive, and turn to better account, than large dinners for great
companies.

I hope you have written to the Duke of Newcastle; I take it for granted
that you have to all your brother ministers of the northern department.
For God's sake be diligent, alert, active, and indefatigable in your
business. You want nothing but labor and industry to be, one day,
whatever you please, in your own way.

We think and talk of nothing here but Brest, which is universally
supposed to be the object of our great expedition. A great and important
object it is. I suppose the affair must be brusque, or it will not do. If
we succeed, it will make France put some water to its wine. As for my own
private opinion, I own I rather wish than hope success. However, should
our expedition fail, 'Magnis tamen excidit ausis', and that will be
better than our late languid manner of making war.

To mention a person to you whom I am very indifferent about, I mean
myself, I vegetate still just as I did when we parted; but I think I
begin to be sensible of the autumn of the year; as well as of the autumn
of my own life. I feel an internal awkwardness, which, in about three
weeks, I shall carry with me to the Bath, where I hope to get rid of it,
as I did last year. The best cordial I could take, would be to hear, from
time to time, of your industry and diligence; for in that case I should
consequently hear of your success. Remember your own motto, 'Nullum numen
abest si sit prudentia'. Nothing is truer. Yours.




LETTER CCVII

BLACKHEATH, September 23, 1757

MY DEAR FRIEND: I received but the day before yesterday your letter of
the 3d, from the headquarters at Selsingen; and, by the way, it is but
the second that I have received from you since your arrival at Hamburg.
Whatever was the cause of your going to the army, I approve of the
effect; for I would have you, as much as possible, see everything that is
to be seen. That is the true useful knowledge, which informs and improves
us when we are young, and amuses us and others when we are old; 'Olim
haec meminisse juvabit'. I could wish that you would (but I know you will
not) enter in a book, a short note only, of whatever you see or hear,
that is very remarkable: I do not mean a German ALBUM stuffed with
people's names, and Latin sentences; but I mean such a book, as, if you
do not keep now, thirty years hence you would give a great deal of money
to have kept. 'A propos de bottes', for I am told he always wears his;
was his Royal Highness very gracious to you, or not? I have my doubts
about it. The neutrality which he has concluded with Marechal de
Richelieu, will prevent that bloody battle which you expected; but what
the King of Prussia will say to it is another point. He was our only
ally; at present, probably we have not one in the world. If the King of
Prussia can get at Monsieur de Soubize's, and the Imperial army, before
other troops have joined them, I think he will beat them but what then?
He has three hundred thousand men to encounter afterward. He must submit;
but he may say with truth, 'Si Pergama dextra defendi potuissent'. The
late action between the Prussians and Russians has only thinned the human
species, without giving either party a victory; which is plain by each
party's claiming it. Upon my word, our species will pay very dear for the
quarrels and ambition of a few, and those by no means the most valuable
part of it. If the many were wiser than they are, the few must be
quieter, and would perhaps be juster and better than they are.

Hamburg, I find, swarms with Grafs, Graffins, Fursts, and Furstins,
Hocheits, and Durchlaugticheits. I am glad of it, for you must
necessarily be in the midst of them; and I am still more glad, that,
being in the midst of them, you must necessarily be under some constraint
of ceremony; a thing which you do not love, but which is, however, very
useful.

I desired you in my last, and I repeat it again in this, to give me an
account of your private and domestic life.

How do you pass your evenings? Have they, at Hamburg, what are called at
Paris 'des Maisons', where one goes without ceremony, sups or not, as one
pleases? Are you adopted in any society? Have you any rational brother
ministers, and which? What sort of things are your operas? In the tender,
I doubt they do not excel; for 'mein lieber schatz', and the other
tendernesses of the Teutonic language, would, in my mind, sound but
indifferently, set to soft music; for the bravura parts, I have a great
opinion of them; and 'das, der donner dich erschlage', must no doubt,
make a tremendously fine piece of 'recitativo', when uttered by an angry
hero, to the rumble of a whole orchestra, including drums, trumpets, and
French horns. Tell me your whole allotment of the day, in which I hope
four hours, at least, are sacred to writing; the others cannot be better
employed than in LIBERAL pleasures. In short, give me a full account of
yourself, in your un-ministerial character, your incognito, without your
'fiocchi'. I love to see those, in whom I interest myself, in their
undress, rather than in gala; I know them better so. I recommend to you,
'etiam atque etiam', method and order in everything you undertake. Do you
observe it in your accounts? If you do not, you will be a beggar, though
you were to receive the appointments of a Spanish Ambassador
extraordinary, which are a thousand pistoles a month; and in your
ministerial business, if you have no regular and stated hours for such
and such parts of it, you will be in the hurry and confusion of the Duke
of N-----, doing everything by halves, and nothing well, nor soon. I
suppose you 'have been feasted through the Corps diplomatique at Hamburg,
excepting Monsieur Champeaux; with whom, however, I hope you live
'poliment et galamment', at all third places.

Lord Loudon is much blamed here for his 'retraite des dix milles', for it
is said that he had above that number, and might consequently have acted
offensively, instead of retreating; especially as his retreat was
contrary to the unanimous opinion (as it is now said) of the council of
war. In our Ministry, I suppose, things go pretty quietly, for the D. of
N. has not plagued me these two months. When his Royal Highness comes
over, which I take it for granted he will do very soon, the great push
will, I presume, be made at his Grace and Mr. Pitt; but without effect if
they agree, as it is visibly their interest to do; and, in that case,
their parliamentary strength will support them against all attacks. You
may remember, I said at first, that the popularity would soon be on the
side of those who opposed the popular Militia Bill; and now it appears so
with a vengeance, in almost every county in England, by the tumults and
insurrections of the people, who swear that they will not be enlisted.
That silly scheme must therefore be dropped, as quietly as may be. Now
that I have told you all that I know, and almost all that I think, I wish
you a good supper and a good-night.




LETTER CCVIII

BLACKHEATH, September 30, 1757

MY DEAR FRIEND: I have so little to do, that I am surprised how I can
find time to write to you so often. Do not stare at the seeming paradox;
for it is an undoubted truth, that the less one has to do, the less time
one finds to do it in. One yawns, one procrastinates, one can do it when
one will, and therefore one seldom does it at all; whereas those who have
a great deal of business, must (to use a vulgar expression) buckle to it;
and then they always find time enough to do it in. I hope your own
experience has by this time convinced you of this truth.

I received your last of the 8th. It is now quite over with a very great
man, who will still be a very great man, though a very unfortunate one.
He has qualities of the mind that put him above the reach of these
misfortunes; and if reduced, as perhaps he may, to the 'marche' of
Brandenburg, he will always find in himself the comfort, and with all the
world the credit, of a philosopher, a legislator, a patron, and a
professor of arts and sciences. He will only lose the fame of a
conqueror; a cruel fame, that arises from the destruction of the human
species. Could it be any satisfaction to him to know, I could tell him,
that he is at this time the most popular man in this kingdom; the whole
nation being enraged at that neutrality which hastens and completes his
ruin. Between you and me, the King was not less enraged at it himself,
when he saw the terms of it; and it affected his health more than all
that had happened before. Indeed it seems to me a voluntary concession of
the very worst that could have happened in the worst event. We now begin
to think that our great and secret expedition is intended for Martinico
and St. Domingo; if that be true, and we succeed in the attempt, we shall
recover, and the French lose, one of the most valuable branches of
commerce--I mean sugar. The French now supply all the foreign markets in
Europe with that commodity; we only supply ourselves with it. This would
make us some amends for our ill luck, or ill conduct in North America;
where Lord Loudon, with twelve thousand men, thought himself no match for
the French with but seven; and Admiral Holborne, with seventeen ships of
the line, declined attacking the French, because they had eighteen, and a
greater weight of METAL, according to the new sea-phrase, which was
unknown to Blake. I hear that letters have been sent to both with very
severe reprimands. I am told, and I believe it is true, that we are
negotiating with the Corsican, I will not say rebels, but asserters of
their natural rights; to receive them, and whatever form of government
they think fit to establish, under our protection, upon condition of
their delivering up to us Port Ajaccio; which may be made so strong and
so good a one, as to be a full equivalent for the loss of Port Mahon.
This is, in my mind, a very good scheme; for though the Corsicans are a
parcel of cruel and perfidious rascals, they will in this case be tied
down to us by their own interest and their own danger; a solid security
with knaves, though none with fools. His Royal Highness the Duke is
hourly expected here: his arrival will make some bustle; for I believe it
is certain that he is resolved to make a push at the Duke of N., Pitt and
Co.; but it will be ineffectual, if they continue to agree, as, to my
CERTAIN KNOWLEDGE, they do at present. This parliament is theirs,
'caetera quis nescit'?

Now that I have told you all that I know or have heard, of public
matters, let us talk of private ones that more nearly and immediately
concern us. Admit me to your fire-side, in your little room; and as you
would converse with me there, write to me for the future from thence. Are
you completely 'nippe' yet? Have you formed what the world calls
connections? that is, a certain number of acquaintances whom, from
accident or choice, you frequent more than others: Have you either fine
or well-bred women there? 'Y a-t-il quelque bon ton'? All fat and fair, I
presume; too proud and too cold to make advances, but, at the same time,
too well-bred and too warm to reject them, when made by 'un honnete homme
avec des manieres'.

Mr.------is to be married, in about a month, to Miss------. I am very
glad of it; for, as he will never be a man of the world, but will always
lead a domestic and retired life, she seems to have been made on purpose
for him. Her natural turn is as grave and domestic as his; and she seems
to have been kept by her aunts 'a la grace', instead of being raised in a
hot bed, as most young ladies are of late. If, three weeks hence, you
write him a short compliment of congratulation upon the occasion, he, his
mother, and 'tutti quanti', would be extremely pleased with it. Those
attentions are always kindly taken, and cost one nothing but pen, ink,
and paper. I consider them as draughts upon good-breeding, where the
exchange is always greatly in favor of the drawer. 'A propos' of
exchange; I hope you have, with the help of your secretary, made yourself
correctly master of all that sort of knowledge--Course of Exchange,
'Agie, Banco, Reiche-Thalers', down to 'Marien Groschen'. It is very
little trouble to learn it; it is often of great use to know it.
Good-night, and God bless you!




LETTER CCIX

BLACKHEATH, October 10, 1757

MY DEAR FRIEND: It is not without some difficulty that I snatch this
moment of leisure from my extreme idleness, to inform you of the present
lamentable and astonishing state of affairs here, which you would know
but imperfectly from the public papers, and but partially from your
private correspondents. 'Or sus' then--Our in vincible Armada, which cost
at least half a million, sailed, as you know, some weeks ago; the object
kept an inviolable secret: conjectures various, and expectations great.
Brest was perhaps to be taken; but Martinico and St. Domingo, at least.
When lo! the important island of Aix was taken without the least
resistance, seven hundred men made prisoners, and some pieces of cannon
carried off. From thence we sailed toward Rochfort, which it seems was
our main object; and consequently one should have supposed that we had
pilots on board who knew all the soundings and landing places there and
thereabouts: but no; for General M-----t asked the Admiral if he could
land him and the troops near Rochfort? The Admiral said, with great ease.
To which the General replied, but can you take us on board again? To
which the Admiral answered, that, like all naval operations, will depend
upon the wind. If so, said the General, I'll e'en go home again. A
Council of War was immediately called, where it was unanimously resolved,
that it was ADVISABLE to return; accordingly they are returned. As the
expectations of the whole nation had been raised to the highest pitch,
the universal disappointment and indignation have arisen in proportion;
and I question whether the ferment of men's minds was ever greater.
Suspicions, you may be sure, are various and endless, but the most
prevailing one is, that the tail of the Hanover neutrality, like that of
a comet, extended itself to Rochfort. What encourages this suspicion is,
that a French man of war went unmolested through our whole fleet, as it
lay near Rochfort. Haddock's whole story is revived; Michel's
representations are combined with other circumstances; and the whole
together makes up a mass of discontent, resentment, and even fury,
greater than perhaps was ever known in this country before. These are the
facts, draw your own conclusions from them; for my part, I am lost in
astonishment and conjectures, and do not know where to fix. My experience
has shown me, that many things which seem extremely probable are not
true: and many which seem highly improbable are true; so that I will
conclude this article, as Josephus does almost every article of his
history, with saying, BUT OF THIS EVERY MAN WILL BELIEVE AS HE THINKS
PROPER. What a disgraceful year will this be in the annals of this
country! May its good genius, if ever it appears again, tear out those
sheets, thus stained and blotted by our ignominy!